


Draw Me Out

by fallingwildrosepetals



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bill Denbrough Stutters, College Losers Club (IT), F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Losers Club (IT), Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:22:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23387326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fallingwildrosepetals/pseuds/fallingwildrosepetals
Summary: After a period of high fluency, Bill Denbrough's stutter returns in full force. The Losers are there to listen and try to help him cope.
Relationships: Bill Denbrough/Ben Hanscom, Bill Denbrough/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Eddie Kaspbrak, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Bill Denbrough/Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, The Losers Club/The Losers Club (IT)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 132





	Draw Me Out

**Author's Note:**

> This work was prompted by an anonymous request on Tumblr: "could i request an hurt/comfort bill centric poly losers fic? preferably about his stutter as I love to project haha. Love your work sm:)" 
> 
> (First of all, thank you for loving my work <3 I hope this is what you wanted!) 
> 
> If you'd like to request a fic, hit me up on tumblr at readinglikechickensoup

When Bill came home after a dark day, a wriggle out of your own skin day, he felt like he’d swallowed a bowling ball. He slammed the door, dropped his stuff, and locked himself in the bathroom. 

He stared at himself in the mirror, trying to smile until he felt the cracks widen. He turned on the faucet and cried into his hands. 

Someone rapped gently on the door. 

"You alright?" Mike asked. 

"G…g-go away.” 

He paused. "I'm not gonna do that, Bill. I'm gonna be right here until you open that door." 

"W-why?" 

"Because I love you," Mike replied, a strange pitch to his voice. "You know that." 

Bill sat down on the toilet lid and cried harder, curling in on himself. He knew Mike could hear him, but he couldn't stop. He just wanted the day to end and to wake up a different person. 

A more insistent knock. 

"Come out. Please," Beverly said.

Bill didn't bother responding. 

"Hey," Eddie said, "you shouldn't be hiding in the bathroom anyway. Do you know how dirty bathrooms are? Do you know how many germs you're picking up, being in there unnecessarily? Have you heard of e-coli?" 

"How is that helpful?" Bev demanded. 

Bill turned on the tub faucet. The roaring blocked out the content of the voices, leaving only the echo, like a television set turned low. As the tears dried on his cheeks, he picked at a daisy on the yellowed wallpaper. 

"H-he th…th-thrusts h-h-h." Bill took a deep breath and began again, quietly. "He th-thrusts h-his--" 

The door flew open and Richie walked in, Hawaiian shirt flowing behind him. "Hey Billy. What's the problemo? Did Mike let you watch _Field of Dreams_ again?” 

Bill shrugged. 

"Right." 

"Sorry, Bill. We told him not to," Ben said. 

Richie gave him the finger and crouched to Bill’s level. "How 'bout you come look all angry and sad in the kitchen? It's only, Eddie really needs to use the bathroom, and this is our only one. We can turn on the kitchen sink if you really want." 

"Wh…wh-wh—fine." Bill stood and strode out into the kitchen. He threw himself into a chair at the table, pulled his knees up to his chest, and stared out the window. He traced the tops of the trees with his eyes, over and over again until they unfocused and doubled. 

When his eyes hurt, he dropped his feet to the floor and looked at the table. Richie was next to him, tearing a bagel to bits; Eddie and Stan were bent together over a statistics textbook; Ben was drawing a floorplan on graphing paper; Bev was sketching; and Mike was reading a novel. 

"Wh-what are you guys h…h-home for?"

Everyone looked at him. 

"I called them," Mike said, sliding a bookmark between the pages. "You were in there for over an hour." 

"Oh." 

"What's wrong?" Ben asked. 

Bill shook his head, staring down at the table. 

"Jay-sus," Richie said, throwing the remains of his bagel at Eddie. "Som'tin is clar-ley wrong wit ya, an' until ya talk ta us, oy'm gunna--" 

"F-fuck off," Bill exploded. "It isn't f…f-fair. W-words come so f-fucking easy for you." 

"Is this about your stutter?" Stan asked, closing the textbook. "Did something happen?" 

Bill rubbed his eyes. "S…s-s-s…" He burst into tears. 

They descended on him. Richie knelt on the floor and buried his face in Bill’s stomach, wrapping his arms around his torso and holding him tight. 

Mike draped his arms over Bill’s shoulders and rubbed soothing circles into his chest. 

Beverly held one of his hands, pressing kisses to his palm, knuckles, and wrist. 

Ben held Bill's other hand to his own chest. Bill could feel his heartbeat and his slow, deep breathing. 

Stan wiped Bill's tears away with soft tissues, dropping feather-light kisses on his forehead and between his eyes. 

"Hey, no, hey," Eddie whispered, squeezing Bill’s knee. "We love you, okay? I love you. Ben loves you. Mike loves you. Richie loves you. Bev loves you. Even Stan loves you. Everyone loves you, okay? We love you; we love your voice; we love all of you."

Gradually, the boiling frustration in Bill subsided and the tears stopped coming. 

"What happened, bluebird?" Stan asked softly, pressing a kiss to the corner of Bill’s mouth. "You can tell us." 

"You can tell us anything," Mike said. 

Bill took a deep, shaky breath. "I’ve been s-so fluent l-lately. I thought it was g…g-going away. Then t-today I had a p-presentation…I couldn’t s-stop…so I l…l-left.” 

Richie tightened his grip on Bill's middle. 

“I’m s-so t-t-tired of this. It’s embarrassing. I f-feel so s…s-stupid," he admitted. 

“You are not stupid,” Bev said. 

“You’re one of the most intelligent people I know,” Stan agreed. 

“It’s okay to feel however you feel, but you should know that it isn’t your fault,” Mike said gently. “I’ve read up on it, and good and bad spells are pretty common.” 

“Y-You read up on it?”

He shrugged. “I love you.” 

“Your voice is great the way it is,” Richie said, voice muffled by Bill’s stomach. “I wouldn’t change ya.” 

“None of us would,” Eddie said. 

Ben stood and kissed Bill’s cheek. “I’m gonna order pizza. You guys go pick out a movie.” 

Bill ended up on the couch, tucked between Stan and Mike, eating his favorite pizza and watching _Ghostbusters_. Richie sat on the floor, hugging one of Bill’s legs. 

Finally, some of the heaviness drained from Bill’s chest. He rested his head on Mike’s shoulder and closed his eyes.


End file.
